A sign posted at the entrance of the otherwise dark storefront on Wednesday urged shoppers to visit GNC’s three other locations in the Sarasota area, which include two stores in Venice and another in University Park.

GNC is the latest in a slew of retail brands that vacated the Westfield Group mall recently. Lunar Golf and Rampage Girl closed earlier this month. GameStop closed and RadioShack closed before that. Delia’s, a fashion apparel chain for young women, closed when the chain liquidated all stores and files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Wet Seal, another women’s fashion retailer, closed in January too. Pita Pit, a restaurant near the mall’s food court, also shuttered.

Westfield Group did announce that Old Navy, rue21 and Burger King will open this year inside Sarasota Square Mall. H&M, a retailer known for its discount prices on trendy apparel for young men and women, will also open a store in Sarasota Square Mall later this year. The additions are the first signs of change at Sarasota Square since Costco Wholesale took over the former shell of Dillard’s in 2012.

Photo by Diane Creamer

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Charlotte Russe, a women’s fashion retail chain, will host a grand opening party at the Mall at University Town Center this weekend.

To celebrate the store’s debut, Charlotte Russe is offering the chance to win deals like $5 off $30 purchases, $10 off $50 purchases and $15 off $75 purchases from Feb. 6-8. The coupons are not good with any other offers. Customers also have the chance to win a $150 shopping spree.

Lucky Brand, Tory Burch, Free People and several other brands are expected to open in the Mall at University Town Center this year. The Mall at University Town Center opened in October at University Parkway and Interstate 75. The 880,000-square-foot mall is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Dillard’s and Macys.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Old Navy, rue21 and Burger King will open this year inside Sarasota Square Mall.

Burger King is the latest restaurant chain to open in Sarasota Square Mall’s food court. The restaurant is currently under construction and is expected to open on Feb. 20.

Old Navy, a family clothing retailer which filed building permits with Sarasota County in November, will open a 13,500-square-foot store, is expected to open this fall.

Old Navy closed its Sarasota location inside the Sarasota Pavilion shopping center near Gulf Gate in 2012. The space was vacant for more than two years, where it housed a Spirit Halloween store for a few months around the holidays before Bealls Oulet took over the space in 2014.

The San Francisc0-based company is owned by Gap Inc., which operates brands like Gap and Banana Republic. Old Navy has another store at 117 N. Cattleman Rd., in the University Park area. Old Navy used to operate a store inside Desoto Square Mall Mall, too.

rue21, which sells apparel and accessories for young women, will open a store in Sarasota Square Mall this spring.

The apparel chain, known for its affordable prices on young women’s and men’s fashion pieces, filed building permits with Sarasota County this week to open its first Sarasota County store. rue21 operates more than 1,000 stores in 47 states, including an outlet store inside the Ellenton Premium Outlets and a storefront at the Westfield Brandon Town Center.

The company opened a store at the Port Charlotte Town Center in March. rue21 plans to open 120 stores across the country in the next year.

rue21 follows H&M, another retailer known for its discount prices on trendy apparel for young men and women, to announce opening a store inside the Westfield Group mall. The addition of two new retailers are the first signs of change at Sarasota Square since Costco Wholesale took over the former shell of Dillard’s in 2012.

“We strive to deliver the latest and best retail offerings for our shoppers,” said Jim Ralston, general manager of Westfield Sarasota Square. “With the addition of H&M, rue21 and Old Navy in 2015 we will continue to provide our shoppers with the latest and best options in retail.”

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Connors Steak & Seafood, a restaurant chain owned by Connor Concepts Inc., will open its second Florida restaurant at Westfield Group’s Southgate Mall later this year.

The Knoxville, Tenn.-based chain is known for its seafood, aged steak entrees and affordable menu prices. Prime rib sells for $28 for a 16-ounce cut and seafood prices range from $16 to $28 per plate. The company has four locations in Knoxville, Tenn., Franklin, Tenn., Huntsville, Ala., and Fort Myers.

Connors inked a deal with Westfield Group late last year. The restaurant, which is expected to be 6,800 square feet and include an outdoor patio, will likely open in late 2015, said Bo Connors, a managing partner of the chain.

“The renovations plans (for Southgate Mall) in Sarasota are really nice looking,” Connor said. “There’s a lot of activity going on at that site and we’re very excited to be apart of it.”

Westfield Group declined to comment on the addition of the restaurant.

Connors Steak & Seafood opened its first restaurant in Knoxville in 2004. The Fort Myers restaurant opened in 2012 in the Gulf Coast Town Center, an outdoor retail center near Interstate 75. The restaurant received a AAA 3 -Diamond rating from the trade group.

“We’ve been very happy with our Fort Myers location and are looking to expand into other areas in Florida,” Connor said.

Connors Steak & Seafood is the latest announcement of several to come as apart of Southgate Mall’s revamp. Connors joins BRAVO! Cucina Italiana, by Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, also the parent of Brio Tuscan Grille, at the mall at Bee Ridge Road and Tamiami Trail. BRAVO!, an Italian restaurant chain, is also expected to open this year.

The restaurants and some new retailers, like Abercrombie & Fitch, among others, are expected to help transform the Westfield Group mall as it transitions into an outdoor lifestyle center with a new name, “Westfield Siesta Key.”

Last year Westfield Group confirmed plans to open a 7-screen Cobb Cinebistro movie theater in the former Saks Fifth Avenue anchor space. The movie theater, which has a full bar and restaurant, is also expected to open this year.

The Australian mall operator announced in 2013 that Southgate would be remodeled into an outdoor dining, shopping and entertainment space. In addition to new fixtures and overall décor, the mall will add 46,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, taken from its parking lot facing Tamiami Trail, to create an outdoor “street-like” feel with stone cobbled walkways and open-area covered paths.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Rampage Girl shuttered earlier this week unexpectedly, area shoppers report. The chain sold apparel and accessories aimed for teenage girls.

Lunar Golf was an indoor mini golf course known for glowing in the dark. The course was colorfully pained and shown under black light bulbs inside the mall near the Sears wing.

The mini golf tentant and Rampage Girl join several other retailers that have closed inside the south Sarasota mall lately. GameStop closed last week and RadioShack announced it will close its store soon . Delia’s, a fashion apparel chain for young women, closed when the chain liquidated all stores and files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Wet Seal, another women’s fashion retailer, closed in January too. Pita Pit, a restaurant near the mall’s food court, also shuttered.

The Gulf Gate Library, which temporarily operated space in the mall, closed on Jan. 3 when its brand new facility at 7112 Curtiss Ave., opened.

Last year, Westfield Group announced that H&M, another discount apparel retailer, will open a 21,000-square-foot store inside the south Sarasota County mall. It was the first announcement of many to come for Australia-based mall operator, Westfield Group, which owns Sarasota’s Southgate Mall and Sarasota Square. H&M will open in the summer.

Old Navy and rue21 are expected to open inside the mall in 2015 as well.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

After just two years, Joel Ellzey, the general manager of Saks Fifth Avenue at the Mall at University Town Center, is leaving Sarasota.

Ellzey, who formerly managed the Saks store at Westshore Plaza in Tampa before coming to Sarasota to transition the Saks brand from Westfield Group’s Southgate Mall to the new Mall at University Town Center, has accepted a vice president general manager position at the Saks Fifth Avenue department store in Boston.

Ellzey sent personal emails to Saks clients this week, announcing his departure.

He took over the Sarasota Saks in February 2013, when it was still just a 40,000-square-foot department store at Southgate Mall. He helped the staff open the 80,000-square-foot, two-story anchoring store at the new Mall at University Town Center, which debuted at Interstate 75 and University Parkway in October. The new Saks is the second in the chain to open with an in-house restaurant, called Sophie’s, inside.

Ellzey, 46, was tasked with bringing in new customers while also maintaining an existing base of upscale shoppers.

“Joel has done amazing things here and was our leader in positioning us in our new market,” said Sally Schule, marketing director for Saks Fifth Avenue in Sarasota. “He’s going to be missed.”

Ellzey was only the third manager in the Sarasota store’s 19-year history. Schule was the store’s GM since 2005, but stepped down to focus on marketing efforts regionwide.

His replacement is Terri Najmolhoda, who comes to Sarasota also from the former Tampa Saks Fifth Avenue store. Najmolhoda most recently worked as a vice present general manager in Chevy Chase, Md. However, she worked at the Tampa store until it closed in May 2013.

Najmolhoda joined Saks Fifth Avenue in 2008 and has worked for the company in a variety of positions since then. She started as a designer sales associate in Troy, Mich., where she was promoted to manager. In 2009, she worked as an assistant general manager of merchandising at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Boca Raton. She came to Tampa in 2013, and was the store’s general manager when Ellzey left for Sarasota.

“A lot of our associates already know her and have worked with her, since they came to our store from Tampa,” Schule said.

Najmolhoda will take over as general manager in Sarasota on March 2.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

GameStop, a video game retailer, closed its store in Sarasota Square Mall. RadioShack, the struggling electronics chain, is the next to shutter at the Westfield Group mall.

GameStop closed its store for good at Sarasota Square on Sunday. Employees said that the GameStop location in the nearby Gulf Gate neighborhood will remain open. The chain has been steadily closing hundreds of stores across the country over the last year.

RadioShack, a longstanding electronics retailer that has struggled in recent years to combat online shopping and remain relevant as a brick and mortar chain, will close its store in Sarasota Square Mall soon, employees confirmed. There is no firm closing date set.

GameStop and RadioShack are latest of several stores that have closed in Sarasota Square Mall recently. Delia’s, a fashion apparel chain for young women, closed when the chain liquidated all stores and files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Wet Seal, another women’s fashion retailer, closed in January too. Pita Pit, a restaurant near the mall’s food court, also shuttered.

The Gulf Gate Library, which temporarily operated space in the mall, closed on Jan. 3 when its brand new facility at 7112 Curtiss Ave., opened.

Last year, Westfield Group announced that H&M, another discount apparel retailer, will open a 21,000-square-foot store inside the south Sarasota County mall. It was the first announcement of many to come for Australia-based mall operator, Westfield Group, which owns Sarasota’s Southgate Mall and Sarasota Square. H&M will open in the summer.

Old Navy and rue21 are expected to open inside the mall in 2015 as well.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

It is unclear when the store will close, but going out of business sales have begun at the chain’s Sarasota location, employees said. All jeans are offered for sale at 60 percent off the original price and merchandise in the rest of the store, including fixtures, is offered at 50 percent off, employees said. The sales are also offered on the retailer’s website.

The Sarasota Square Mall store is near the food court and the AMC movie theater.

The company, headquartered in New York City, had 113 stores nationwide, as of 2012.Delia’s was launched in 1993 by two Yale University graduates and was acquired by Alloy Inc. for $50 million in 2003.

The company has a handful of stores in Florida, including one in Estero.

Delia’s is the fourth tenant to close inside Westfield Group’s Sarasota Square Mall recently. Wet Seal, another women’s fashion retailer, closed this week. Pita Pit, a restaurant near the mall’s food court, also closed. The Gulf Gate Library, which temporarily operated space in the mall, closed on Jan. 3 when its brand new facility at 7112 Curtiss Ave., opened.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.